Thanks Matt for a well-written and informative topic for all the warriors out there who sometimes struggle in the leveling up process. I remember back in the day when I started, the very first class I rolled was a warrior. But she only got to level 13. Why? I didn't understand the importance of gear, or proper use of abilities and talents. More than any other class, the warrior suffers from not grasping those things. Only after I switched to a hunter and got him to mid 30s did I begin to figure out that maybe intellect and spirit weren't all that good for my warrior.

"Get the best gear you can, and keep it updated as best you can.": I agree with this whole-heartedly, but if you can emphasize one thing over everything else, it MUST be the weapon(s). Unless is a wicked blue item, I would argue that a warrior's weapons need to be within 2-4 levels of him/her at all times to remain effective. I proved this was definitely the case when I had a 2v2 duel with some of my guildies in the Gurubashi Arena. In one duel, I took off all my armor except for my trinkets and weapon. And we annihilated our shammy/warlock opposition. In the other duel, I replaced my Merciless Gladiator's Sword with a pair of Worn Swords. Despite ALL of the rest of my gear, it was an extremely close fight. That's just my experience in the matter anyway. I've done some of the research myself already for my own alts, but you should compile a list of really solid weapons - two handers and main/one handers - that warriors can obtain from quests or instances between level 1 and 40 - if you email me, I could help you find them. You might even extend that to armor, and again I can be of service if you require it.

The topic lightly brushes over it, but Warriors, if you are able to, try to get guildies to help you with your warrior quests at the earliest level you can obtain them. Two quests come to mind: the level 20 armor quest for Fire-Hardened mail armor - if you do all of the quests as early as possible, you'll have (at least) a helm and chest that will stick with you for at least 6-10 levels. The other quest is the Whirlwind quest, starting at level 30 but requiring in the end that you kill a level 40. It gives you a 2-Hander that has about 35.6 DPS, which will make the level 30-40 time MUCH faster.

Ah ... just thinking about the days when those blues (and even greens) were like the best thing since sliced bread to a warrior ... /sigh! Great article Matt - you make me want to roll another warrior.

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